In Memory Of ...

[Lonewolf]

CJ Snare
co-founder and lead singer for FireHouse
December 14, 1959 – April 5, 2024

Carl "C.J." Snare (December 14, 1959 – April 5, 2024) was an American singer best known for being the frontman and founding member of the hard rock/glam metal band FireHouse.

Snare co-wrote most of the band's songs and has had seven songs chart on the Billboard Hot 100 Charts, five of which were top 40. He also appeared periodically with his other band, Rubicon Cross, and occasionally appeared with Scrap Metal.

C.J. Snare was born on December 14, 1959 in Washington, D.C. He had two sons and one daughter.

In 2020 he was diagnosed with stage IV colon cancer. In September 2023, he took a hiatus from FireHouse to undergo abdominal surgery in October. Although he intended to return to the band for their shows in summer 2024, he died on April 5 of that year of cardiac arrest. He was 64

On a personal note, FireHouse is one of my favorite rock bands. I unsuccessfully have tried to get bands I've been in to cover "All She Wrote and "Reach for the Sky". The bands only official live CD, "Bring 'Em Out Live", is in my regular rotation. CJ's distinctive voice will be missed. RIP, CJ...

sources: wikipedia.com, tmz.com

[ghost2509]

O.J. Simpson dead at 76 after battle with cancer, family announces

yahoo/sports
Frank Schwab
NFL writer
Thu, Apr 11, 2024

O.J. Simpson, whose immense fame on the football field was eclipsed by his infamy off it, died Wednesday according to his family. He was 76.

Simpson had been battling cancer and had been in hospice. Simpson's attorney also confirmed his death to TMZ.

"On April 10th, our father, Orenthal James Simpson, succumbed to his battle with cancer," read a statement posted by Simpson's family on X. "He was surrounded by his children and grandchildren."

“O.J. Simpson was the first player to reach a rushing mark many thought could not be attained in a 14-game season when he topped 2,000 yards,” Pro Football Hall of Fame president Jim Porter said in a statement. “His on-field contributions will be preserved in the Hall’s archives in Canton, Ohio.”

No matter what Simpson did as a football player, he will always be more remembered for perhaps the most famous murder trial in American history, one that had people glued to their televisions on a daily basis and split the country along racial lines. The moment he was found not guilty of the 1994 murders of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman was one of the most-watched in television history, as was Simpson’s slow-speed Ford Bronco chase through Southern California freeways after he was charged with the murders and failed to turn himself in.

Long before the trial that fascinated a large majority of Americans, Simpson’s fame was undeniable. He was one of the most famous football players ever, and became a celebrity off the field.

O.J. Simpson became a football star at USC

Orenthal James Simpson, born July 9, 1947 in San Francisco, California, changed how athletes — particularly African American athletes — were viewed in the mainstream, well before he became a notorious figure.

Simpson’s rise started at the University of Southern California, where he was one of the greatest college running backs ever. He enrolled at USC after attending City College of San Francisco for two years, and finished second in the Heisman Trophy voting his first season. Simpson’s cross-field, 64-yard, game-winning touchdown run against UCLA that season is still one of the most famous plays in college football history. In 1968, Simpson’s senior year at USC, he won the Heisman Trophy.

Simpson was a nearly perfect running back. He had good size at 6-foot-1, 212 pounds. He had world-class speed; in 1967 he was part of a four-man USC relay team that set a world record in the 440-yard event. He also had fantastic football instincts, especially in the open field.

In the 1969 common draft, the Buffalo Bills, then part of the American Football League before the merger, selected Simpson with the first overall pick.

NFL stardom in Buffalo

Simpson’s NFL career started slow, and he looked like a potential bust through three seasons. Then in 1972, the Bills hired Lou Saban as head coach, and he helped turn Simpson into a star.

Simpson was an All-Pro in 1972. In 1973, Simpson had one of the most iconic seasons in NFL history, becoming the first player to rush for 2,000 yards in a season. He finished with 2,003 yards, which became one of the most recognizable numbers in sports. He was named NFL MVP. It’s still one of the most famous single-season performances by a player in NFL history.

"That was like someone breaking Babe Ruth’s home run record," Bills Hall of Fame guard Joe DeLamielleure said, regarding Simpson’s 1973 season, in the ESPN documentary “O.J.: Made in America.” "It was unheard of."

Simpson was named first-team All-Pro five straight years. His 1975 season, in which he had 2,243 yards from scrimmage and 23 touchdowns, isn’t as celebrated as his 1973 season but was statistically better. For that five-year stretch, Simpson was one of the greatest running backs in football history. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1985. In his induction speech, he thanked his second wife Nicole.

With each passing year, Simpson’s fame grew.

Simpson’s fame extended beyond football

Few football players experience the type of fame Simpson gained in the 1970s. How many NFL players get on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine?

A Hertz rental car advertising campaign in the 1970s exposed Simpson to a new, wider audience. Simpson running through the airport to get to the Hertz counter became one of the most memorable and successful ad campaigns ever, and it made Simpson a celebrity.

"Before that, I'd say 30 percent of the people I met recognized me, and they'd be football fans. Now I'd say it's closer to 90 percent,” Simpson told Rolling Stone in that 1977 cover story.

The Hertz campaign was notable for the racial aspect, too. It was a turning point, as Simpson showed a Black spokesperson could be a successful pitchman. The campaign changed advertising forever.

Even as Simpson’s playing career wound down — it ended after two quiet years with the San Francisco 49ers in 1978 and 1979 — his celebrity status remained strong.

Simpson was a top pitchman, and he got plenty of acting roles. His acting career started when he was playing for the Bills, and his most memorable role was as Nordberg in “The Naked Gun” comedy movie series. The retired Simpson might have been more famous in the 1980s than almost any NFL player from that era. He also was on television as a commentator, including a coveted role on “Monday Night Football.”

Part of Simpson’s widespread popularity was how he endeared himself to the white community, a theme that was explored at length in “OJ: Made in America.” In the documentary, those who knew Simpson claimed he would often say, “I’m not Black, I’m O.J.”

Ironically, the man who showed apathy toward his racial identity would be in the middle of a double murder trial that split America by racial lines.

A trial that captivated a nation

On June 12, 1994, Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman were killed outside Nicole’s Brentwood residence.

Over the next year and four months, there were many moments and people that will live forever in memories and pop culture: the Bronco chase that set television records; the “dream team” of lawyers that turned Johnnie Cochran into a star; bloody gloves; “If it doesn’t fit, you must acquit;” numerous instant celebrities like Kato Kaelin, Lance Ito, Marcia Clark and Christopher Darden; and the explosion of notable trials as reality television.

On Oct. 3, 1995, Simpson was found not guilty. Due in large part to the misconduct by the Los Angeles Police Department that was uncovered in the trial, the outcome was celebrated by many Black people. Conversely, many white people were outraged. The trial shined a harsh light on the racial divide in the United States.

In 1997, Simpson was found liable for the murders in a civil trial, and ordered to pay $25 million in punitive damages to the families of Nicole Brown Simpson and Goldman. That became just a footnote to one of the most famous criminal trials in American history.

Simpson goes to a Nevada prison

In 2008, Simpson was found guilty of robbery and kidnapping, stemming from a 2007 incident at a Las Vegas hotel over sports memorabilia Simpson believed was stolen from him. The verdict came 13 years to the day after the not guilty verdict in the double murder trial.

Simpson spent nine years in a Nevada prison before he was released.

Simpson would never escape the infamy of the double murder trial. More than 20 years later, people were still obsessed with it; FX released “The People vs. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story” in 2016, which was a popular hit, and ESPN released the critically acclaimed five-part “O.J.: Made in America” documentary later that year.

Simpson’s death will lead to further exploration of a legacy that is unlike any other in American sports history.

[chrisnewcombe]

Originally Posted by ghost2509

O.J. Simpson dead at 76 after battle with cancer, family announces

yahoo/sports
Frank Schwab
NFL writer
Thu, Apr 11, 2024

O.J. Simpson, whose immense fame on the football field was eclipsed by his infamy off it, died Wednesday according to his family. He was 76.

Simpson had been battling cancer and had been in hospice. Simpson's attorney also confirmed his death to TMZ.

"On April 10th, our father, Orenthal James Simpson, succumbed to his battle with cancer," read a statement posted by Simpson's family on X. "He was surrounded by his children and grandchildren."

“O.J. Simpson was the first player to reach a rushing mark many thought could not be attained in a 14-game season when he topped 2,000 yards,” Pro Football Hall of Fame president Jim Porter said in a statement. “His on-field contributions will be preserved in the Hall’s archives in Canton, Ohio.”

No matter what Simpson did as a football player, he will always be more remembered for perhaps the most famous murder trial in American history, one that had people glued to their televisions on a daily basis and split the country along racial lines. The moment he was found not guilty of the 1994 murders of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman was one of the most-watched in television history, as was Simpson’s slow-speed Ford Bronco chase through Southern California freeways after he was charged with the murders and failed to turn himself in.

Long before the trial that fascinated a large majority of Americans, Simpson’s fame was undeniable. He was one of the most famous football players ever, and became a celebrity off the field.

O.J. Simpson became a football star at USC

Orenthal James Simpson, born July 9, 1947 in San Francisco, California, changed how athletes — particularly African American athletes — were viewed in the mainstream, well before he became a notorious figure.

Simpson’s rise started at the University of Southern California, where he was one of the greatest college running backs ever. He enrolled at USC after attending City College of San Francisco for two years, and finished second in the Heisman Trophy voting his first season. Simpson’s cross-field, 64-yard, game-winning touchdown run against UCLA that season is still one of the most famous plays in college football history. In 1968, Simpson’s senior year at USC, he won the Heisman Trophy.

Simpson was a nearly perfect running back. He had good size at 6-foot-1, 212 pounds. He had world-class speed; in 1967 he was part of a four-man USC relay team that set a world record in the 440-yard event. He also had fantastic football instincts, especially in the open field.

In the 1969 common draft, the Buffalo Bills, then part of the American Football League before the merger, selected Simpson with the first overall pick.

NFL stardom in Buffalo

Simpson’s NFL career started slow, and he looked like a potential bust through three seasons. Then in 1972, the Bills hired Lou Saban as head coach, and he helped turn Simpson into a star.

Simpson was an All-Pro in 1972. In 1973, Simpson had one of the most iconic seasons in NFL history, becoming the first player to rush for 2,000 yards in a season. He finished with 2,003 yards, which became one of the most recognizable numbers in sports. He was named NFL MVP. It’s still one of the most famous single-season performances by a player in NFL history.

"That was like someone breaking Babe Ruth’s home run record," Bills Hall of Fame guard Joe DeLamielleure said, regarding Simpson’s 1973 season, in the ESPN documentary “O.J.: Made in America.” "It was unheard of."

Simpson was named first-team All-Pro five straight years. His 1975 season, in which he had 2,243 yards from scrimmage and 23 touchdowns, isn’t as celebrated as his 1973 season but was statistically better. For that five-year stretch, Simpson was one of the greatest running backs in football history. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1985. In his induction speech, he thanked his second wife Nicole.

With each passing year, Simpson’s fame grew.

Simpson’s fame extended beyond football

Few football players experience the type of fame Simpson gained in the 1970s. How many NFL players get on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine?

A Hertz rental car advertising campaign in the 1970s exposed Simpson to a new, wider audience. Simpson running through the airport to get to the Hertz counter became one of the most memorable and successful ad campaigns ever, and it made Simpson a celebrity.

"Before that, I'd say 30 percent of the people I met recognized me, and they'd be football fans. Now I'd say it's closer to 90 percent,” Simpson told Rolling Stone in that 1977 cover story.

The Hertz campaign was notable for the racial aspect, too. It was a turning point, as Simpson showed a Black spokesperson could be a successful pitchman. The campaign changed advertising forever.

Even as Simpson’s playing career wound down — it ended after two quiet years with the San Francisco 49ers in 1978 and 1979 — his celebrity status remained strong.

Simpson was a top pitchman, and he got plenty of acting roles. His acting career started when he was playing for the Bills, and his most memorable role was as Nordberg in “The Naked Gun” comedy movie series. The retired Simpson might have been more famous in the 1980s than almost any NFL player from that era. He also was on television as a commentator, including a coveted role on “Monday Night Football.”

Part of Simpson’s widespread popularity was how he endeared himself to the white community, a theme that was explored at length in “OJ: Made in America.” In the documentary, those who knew Simpson claimed he would often say, “I’m not Black, I’m O.J.”

Ironically, the man who showed apathy toward his racial identity would be in the middle of a double murder trial that split America by racial lines.

A trial that captivated a nation

On June 12, 1994, Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman were killed outside Nicole’s Brentwood residence.

Over the next year and four months, there were many moments and people that will live forever in memories and pop culture: the Bronco chase that set television records; the “dream team” of lawyers that turned Johnnie Cochran into a star; bloody gloves; “If it doesn’t fit, you must acquit;” numerous instant celebrities like Kato Kaelin, Lance Ito, Marcia Clark and Christopher Darden; and the explosion of notable trials as reality television.

On Oct. 3, 1995, Simpson was found not guilty. Due in large part to the misconduct by the Los Angeles Police Department that was uncovered in the trial, the outcome was celebrated by many Black people. Conversely, many white people were outraged. The trial shined a harsh light on the racial divide in the United States.

In 1997, Simpson was found liable for the murders in a civil trial, and ordered to pay $25 million in punitive damages to the families of Nicole Brown Simpson and Goldman. That became just a footnote to one of the most famous criminal trials in American history.

Simpson goes to a Nevada prison

In 2008, Simpson was found guilty of robbery and kidnapping, stemming from a 2007 incident at a Las Vegas hotel over sports memorabilia Simpson believed was stolen from him. The verdict came 13 years to the day after the not guilty verdict in the double murder trial.

Simpson spent nine years in a Nevada prison before he was released.

Simpson would never escape the infamy of the double murder trial. More than 20 years later, people were still obsessed with it; FX released “The People vs. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story” in 2016, which was a popular hit, and ESPN released the critically acclaimed five-part “O.J.: Made in America” documentary later that year.

Simpson’s death will lead to further exploration of a legacy that is unlike any other in American sports history.

The biggest tragedy is for the families of the people he killed. What bullshit.

[zero33]

I used to be a fan, but it should just be
"O.J. Simpson, piece of shit murderer, is finally dead."

You Tube

You Tube

You Tube

You Tube

[Gemini37]

Originally Posted by zero33

I used to be a fan, but it should just be
"O.J. Simpson, piece of shit murderer, is finally dead."

You Tube

You Tube

[Lando Griffin]

[SynchroDub]

Originally Posted by Lando Griffin

Don't know why, but this reminds me of GTA San Andreas, where Big Smoke say to CJ when you fail the "Train Mission": "All you had to do was follow the damn train".
I get those vibes, definitely.

Anywho, without the OJ case, we wouldn't had the twisted and genius "Lost Highway" by David Lynch, which was heavily based on this story.

[KDO]

Dickey Betts
Forrest Richard Betts
December 12, 1943 – April 18, 2024

Dickey Betts
American Musician | Guitarist | Singer | Composer
Founding Member: The Allman Brothers Band

Dickey Betts, Allman Brothers Band Singer-Guitarist, Dead at 80 - RollingStone

Dickey Betts, Fiery Guitarist with Allman Brothers Band, Dies at 80 - NYT

Allman Brothers Guitarist Dickey Betts Dies at 80 - AJC
(Atlanta Journal Constitution)

The Allman Brothers Band’s Dickey Betts Dies at 80 - Pitchfork

Dickey Betts - Wikipedia

+

[Pacy]

Terry Carter
December 16, 1928 – April 23, 2024

Terry Carter, Barrier-Breaking Actor and Documentarian, Dies at 95

He was the only Black actor on “Combat!” and “The Phil Silvers Show,” then made well regarded documentaries on luminaries like Duke Ellington and Katherine Dunham.

Terry Carter, who broke color barriers onstage and on television in the 1950s and ’60s and later produced multicultural documentaries on the jazz luminary Duke Ellington and the dancer-choreographer Katherine Dunham, died on Tuesday at his home in Midtown Manhattan. He was 95.

His death was confirmed by his son, Miguel Carter DeCoste.

Mr. Carter was raised in a bilingual home next door to a synagogue in a predominantly Italian neighborhood in Brooklyn. His best friend was the future jazz great Cecil Taylor. In his first stage role, at 9, Mr. Carter played the Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama on a voyage of discovery.

And in a wayfaring six-decade career, he was a merchant seaman, a jazz pianist, a law student, a television news anchor, a familiar character on network sitcoms, an Emmy-winning documentarian, a good will ambassador to China, a longtime expatriate in Europe — and a reported dead man; in 2015, rumors that he had been killed were mistaken. It was not him but a much younger Terry Carter who had died in a hit-and-run accident in Los Angeles by a pickup truck driven by the rap mogul Marion “Suge” Knight.

Slightly misquoting Mark Twain, Mr. Carter posted on social media: “Rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated.”

While he acted in some 30 television series and movies, Mr. Carter was best known to viewers as Sgt. Joe Broadhurst, the sidekick to Deputy Marshal Sam McCloud (Dennis Weaver) on NBC’s “McCloud” series from 1970 to 1977, and in 21 episodes of “Battlestar Galactica,” as Colonel Tigh, second-in-command of the starship fleet in ABC’s original science-fiction series in 1978-79. (The series was revived for a second run from 2004 to 2009.)

In the 1950s, when many American entertainments were racially segregated and hundreds of actors had been blacklisted during Communist witch-hunts by congressional investigators, Mr. Carter met the veteran actor Howard Da Silva, whose Hollywood and television career had stalled in 1951 after he invoked his Fifth Amendment rights before the House Committee on Un-American Activities.

“It was Howard who talked me into becoming an actor — he’s the one who changed my life,” Mr. Carter said in an interview for this obituary in 2018. “I quit law school and began studying at Howard’s acting school. I think he called it the Mobile Theater Workshop.”

Mr. Carter appeared in several Black-cast stage productions, both on Broadway and Off Broadway, before breaking into television as the only Black character on “The Phil Silvers Show” (1955-59), playing Pvt. Sugie Sugarman in 92 half-hour episodes of the CBS comedy about an Army con man, Sergeant Bilko, and his motor pool crew.

The show was filmed before studio audiences in New York City. Memorized lines were occasionally flubbed, there were awkward pauses, and the actors often improvised to cover the gaffes, all of which created a spirit of camaraderie in the cast.

“Well, I am the last living survivor of ‘The Phil Silvers Show,’” Mr. Carter said in 2018. “But I’m reluctant to take too much credit for being the only Black man on the show. I was only a cog in the wheel. I slew the foe, but I was just a ham like everybody else. It was a wonderful bunch.”

In 1958, Mr. Carter co-produced an Off Broadway version of Tennessee Williams’s “A Streetcar Named Desire.” The predominantly Black cast featured the actress Hilda Simms as the faded Southern belle Blanche du Bois, and Black actors played Stanley and Stella Kowalski, while white actors filled smaller parts.

Mr. Carter starred with the British actress Sally Ann Howes in “Kwamina,” a 1961 avant-garde musical that explored the romance between a white female doctor and an African tribal chief’s son. After previews in Toronto and Boston, it ran for 32 performances on Broadway.

Also in 1961, Mr. Carter appeared in the Hollywood film “Parrish,” starring Claudette Colbert, Karl Malden and Troy Donahue in a Delmer Daves adaptation of a Mildred Savage novel about family conflicts on a tobacco plantation. And in 1965 he was the only Black actor to portray a G.I. in any of the 152 episodes of the World War II series “Combat!,” which appeared on ABC from 1962 to 1967.

After decades onstage and onscreen, Mr. Carter formed his own production company in 1975 and made educational documentaries. In the 1980s, he expanded into more sophisticated documentaries for PBS, the Library of Congress and the National Endowment for the Arts.

In 1988, his two-part documentary, “A Duke Named Ellington,” for the PBS American Masters Series, became the United States entry in television festivals around the world. Narrated and directed by Mr. Carter, it used recorded interviews with Ellington, who died in 1974, and filmed performances by his orchestra. It won CINE Golden Eagle and Golden Antenna awards and an Emmy nomination.

“We went through about 70 hours of film footage, over 90 percent of which has never been seen before,” Mr. Carter told The Times. “Going through this material was like discovering plutonium when you’re searching for a common metal.”

He also produced and directed “Katherine Dunham: Dancing With Life,” documenting the career of the dancer, choreographer and anthropologist who died at 96 in 2006. Described as a “work in progress,” the film was screened in 2013 at Town Hall in Manhattan.


Terry Carter was born John Everett DeCoste on Dec. 16, 1928, in Brooklyn, the only child of William and Mercedes (Durio) DeCoste. His father was a handyman, and his mother managed the home. At home he learned Spanish and gained an appreciation for cultural diversity. He was an excellent student in public schools and graduated from the elite Stuyvesant High School in Manhattan in 1946.

Mr. Carter later joined the merchant marine and served on a ship that carried European war refugees to Latin America. He played piano with a jazz combo in Boston while attending Northeastern University, and studied law at St. John’s University for nearly two years before turning to acting. (Returning to Northeastern, he earned a Bachelor of Science degree there in 1983.)

Mr. Carter’s first major Broadway role was the lead opposite Eartha Kitt in “Mrs. Patterson” (1954), about poverty and ambitious dreams.

In 1964, while working in Europe, he married Anna Scratuglia, his Italian tutor in Rome. They had two children, Miguel and Melinda, and were divorced in 1990. In 1991, he married Beate Glatved, a film editor. She died in 2006. In 2009, he married Selome Zenebe, who had a daughter, Hiwot Minale, from a previous relationship.

In addition to his son, Mr. Carter is survived by his wife, his daughter, his stepdaughter and one granddaughter.

From 1965 to 1968, Mr. Carter was New England’s first Black news anchor, at WBZ-TV in Boston, then a Westinghouse-owned NBC affiliate.

He went to China in 1991 for the United States Information Agency on a cultural lecture tour, and after nearly two decades working in Scandinavia, he returned to New York in 2013.

Source: The New York Times

[KDO]

Mike Pinder
Michael Thomas Pinder
December 27, 1941 – April 24, 2024

British Musician | Keyboardist | Songwriter
Founding Member of The Moody Blues

Mike Pinder, Founding Keyboardist of the Moody Blues, Dies at 82 - NYT

Mike Pinder, The Moody Blues Keyboardist and Founding Member, Dead at 82 - RollingStone
A pioneer of the Mellotron, Pinder contributed to Rock Hall-inducted band's first nine albums, from their 1965 debut with Denny Laine to 1978's Octave

Mike Pinder Obituary: Keyboardist and Founding Member of the Moody Blues - The Times of London
Synthesizer pioneer who was central to the band’s lush, orchestrated sound on hits such as Nights in White Satin.

Mike Pinder - Wikipedia

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